Catherine Macdonald began her career with The Nature Conservancy in 1978 as a stewardship intern for the Oregon Chapter and subsequently worked as a preserve manager for The Nature Conservancy in California. Catherine was hired as the Oregon Land Steward in 1984, and became the Oregon Director of Stewardship in 1989 building the program from a staff of one to a staff of eighteen. In 1998, Catherine was promoted to the position of Director of Conservation Programs. In this capacity she oversees The Nature Conservancy’s strategic conservation planning, research and monitoring, land protection, and four regional conservation programs in Oregon.

Catherine has served on several national task forces for the Conservancy, including the Conservation Science Task Force and the Conservation Committee that produced The Nature Conservancy’s science-based conservation approach called Conservation by Design. In 2005, the City of Eugene nominated and Catherine received the Environmental Law Institute’s National Wetlands Award for Conservation and Restoration. She has served on the Board of the Oregon Water Trust and the Berry Botanical Garden and as an advisor to the Sitka Center for Art and Ecology. Catherine has a B.S. in plant ecology from Humboldt State University and an M.S. in entomology from Oregon State University.